


The Color Red

by quistal



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Akko-centric, F/F, Soulmate AU, Spoilers, also I don't really write fanfic so I have no idea what i'm doing, sorry if the writing is Bad, the one where you don't see in color until you meet your soulmate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-25 01:46:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12025506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quistal/pseuds/quistal
Summary: The first color Akko ever saw, was the vibrant red of Chariot du Nord’s eyes.





	The Color Red

**Author's Note:**

> This is the 3rd time I've ever written a fanfic and also the first time in 3 years or more, so don't be too hard on me, haha. I just have so many feelings about Akko and Ursula-sensei ;_;

 

“Mama, will you tell me a story?”

 

The woman smiled. “Come here, Akko, and maybe I will.”

 

The little girl did as she was told, crawling onto her mother’s lap and hugging close to her chest.

 

“How about I tell you your favorite one tonight?”

 

Akko listened, as her mother recounted the day she and Akko’s father met. Akko had heard this story countless times over the years. 

Her parents had been lucky enough to find their soulmates.

 

“Remember, Akko. When a person meets their soulmate, they finally learn to see color. And that’s how you know you were meant for each other.”

 

Akko focused on the grays of her mother’s eyes, and imagined they were the red her father loved. Akko thought that red would be a loving and caring color, just like her mom.

 

* * *

When she first saw Shiny Chariot on TV, she was instantly obsessed. Akko could still only see dull grays, but if the world was full of color, she was certain it would be just like Chariot’s show, brimming with excitement and life. Akko wished she could see Chariot’s performance in all its glory, appreciate the glowing greens and yellows of Chariot’s magic, but for now, she could only listen, as her mother described the lights flashing across the screen as best she could.

 

* * *

 

It was on her birthday the following year that her parents gave her a ticket to see Chariot in person. Even getting the one had been more than difficult, her father said, and so she would go alone.

Akko had just turned six, and wearing the witch outfit her mother had sewn, pointed Chariot hat and all, Akko was dropped off at the show with a promise to pick her up as soon as it was over and to call if anything happened.

 

Mesmerized as she watched the magical bird fly onto the stage, Akko watched as it transformed into Shiny Chariot, and then all Akko could see were Chariot’s beautiful, bright, red eyes. It was almost as if Chariot’s magic had enchanted her sight, and she finally understood what her father meant when he told her mother that red was the color of love.

 

As Chariot casted Shiny Arc, defeating the monster and showering the audience in an ethereal green, Akko watched in admiration, her heart brimming with _something_ as Shiny Chariot disappeared into the leyline, her red hair billowing in the wind.

 

And as the crowd died down, and her mother came to greet her, Akko realized that she could still see the blue of the night sky, and the pink of her own fingertips, flushed from the cold, and thered of her mother’s eyes. Perhaps it hadn’t been magic at all.

 

* * *

 

Akko lay in her new bed (much in the school was new to her, although the wear in the room and halls seemed to indicate that nothing in the school was, in fact, new), eyes boring into the faded brown wood above her. Lotte lay sleeping on the bunk above her, and Sucy against the other wall.

 

She worried about her parents at home, and how easily they had agreed to let her leave. But she knew that perhaps they had seen this coming since the day she had seen Chariot’s performance, and come home to tell them that the red of Chariot’s eyes was her favorite color in the world.

  
_“Mama, I can see your eyes now, too! Isn’t magic amazing?”_

  
_“No, Akko. Showing someone to see in color is one thing that magic cannot do. That is a fact that everyone knows.”_

 

Akko closed her eyes and allowed herself to dream of vivid red eyes and hair, billowing in the wind. Now that she was here at Luna Nova, she was one step closer to being able to see Chariot again. And somehow, if Akko were able to become a witch just like her, and could impress her even the smallest bit, it would all be worth it.

 

 

* * *

 

She was becoming perhaps too fond of Professor Ursula. At first it was simply because she was the only one who acknowledged her as anything but a failure. But then she saw Professor Ursula’s eyes, and no matter how hard she tries, she cannot get the color out of her head.

 

They are the same bright red as Chariot’s.

 

But the professor’s hair is blue and calming, and her eyes are always tired, with none of the life that Chariot’s held.

 

Akko pauses as she passes by a classroom, hearing Professor Ursula’s quiet voice, and even though her soulmate is supposed to be _Chariot_ , Akko wants to go in and tell Ursula to hold her tight.

If Akko thinks the world looks a bit more colorful at night, when everything should be dark and dim but just being with Ursula and practicing magic and hearing her do her best to provide encouragement makes her heart swell, no one has to know.

 

 

* * *

 

Akko didn’t want to ever have to choose between Ursula, who’s become more important to her than just a mentor, and Chariot, who she’s still sure is her soulmate, but Professor Croix insisted that Ursula lied, and climbing to the top of the Wagandea tree _right now_ is the only way she can find Chariot for what might be _years_. 

 

Chariot has always been the most important.

 

She only ever came to Luna Nova because of Chariot,and in the beginning, she really only listened to Professor Ursula because she thought the Shiny Rod would reunite her with Chariot one day. It doesn’t matter that somewhere in between, it started to feel like it was enough to just see Ursula’s smile when she got just a little better at a spell. It doesn’t matter that somewhere in between, a tiny part of her started to think that maybe her colors were really just magic, and it was Ursula all along. _She shouldn’t be this conflicted._

 

So when she slaps away Ursula’s hand and those _red_ eyes look back with disappointment and betrayal and hurt, she forces herself to turn around. Because Chariot is the most important.

 

And when Ursula saves her anyway, and looks at Akko as if she’s worth it, like she’s the sun and Ursula can see her dreams in Akko’s eyes, failure of a witch or not, she’s not sure what to think anymore.

 

* * *

 

It turns out Chariot really was her soulmate. Now that they’ve met again, she knows it. 

 

It also turns out Chariot is the reason Akko can’t fly. And perhaps the only reason Ursula cared so much is because it was her fault.

 

Is it possible for your soulmate to not love you back? 

 

The orange glow of the street lamp tells Akko that she can still see the colors around her, but the white of the snow seems to bring the world back to gray. _Fitting_ , she thinks numbly, and doesn’t feel the tears still on her cheeks.

* * *

Diana tells her she can still get her magic back, but Akko doesn’t really know if she’s forgiven Chariot until Chariot’s in danger, and all Akko knows is that she needs to protect her. Akko lets fly a Shiny Arc before she even knows what’s happened. 

 

When she finally looks into Chariot’s eyes, the sparkling red framed by her fiery hair, and sees the guilt, and the wonder at her honesty, as Akko holds the Shiny Rod out to its original owner, she knows that Ursula never meant to hurt her. She’d only wanted to protect Akko, too. 

  
And she wanted Ursula to keep protecting her, to keep guiding her to be a witch worthy of Chariot. But most of all, she understood that it wasn’t just about guilt. Ursula had been trying to guide her as best she could. Chariot truly cared about her.

 

_Red is loving and caring_. 

 

“So please keep teaching me magic!”

 

“Are you sure you’re alright with someone like me?”

 

“You’re the only one I want.  
Thank you, Professor... I love you.”

 

* * *

 

Akko wakes to the rays of the sun shining through the window high above. Waves of red hair dominate her vision, and she tightens her arms around the warm body in front of her. There is still time until her first class, so she is in no hurry to rise, lest she disturb Chariot’s sleep. 

 

It was only a few more moments, though, before Chariot herself began to stir, her bright red eyes meeting Akko’s, a smile lighting her face. Akko cannot help but return it, cheeks warm and heart full.

“Your eyes are my favorite color.”


End file.
